Spanish police have reported that thousands of minks were liberated from three mink farms in the Galice region. On one farm, 5'000 were liberated and 2'000 manged to get out of the farm. On another farm, 11'000 were liberated and about half managed to escape.

Waiting for the . . . they'll only buy 18,000 more mink to replace the mink that were liberated, the wildlife will be destroyed because of the escaped minks, don't compare the absolute cruelty to the animals to slavery, and so on and so on.

<YAWN>

Liberations always remind me of the old man and starfish story.

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?"
The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach, and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

So thank you to the people who are brave enough and have such high morals that they are willing to go out there and save lives.

Alfiedog, great post.

I'm also waiting for the yawn-worthy comments that usually follow. :p

Do you have a source, Diana?

Thanks VG.

Look here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061016/sc_afp/spainenvironmentminks_061016184705

and yes, yes, I realize it has all the info that people will post to say why it is a terrible idea. May as well lay it all on the table.